Wednesday, July 30, 2014

It is now possible to access the LocalBitcoins API using HMAC authentication instead of OAuth 2. This new authentication method is more suitable and secure for your own scripts and non-distributed applications. We suggest to use it whenever possible.

API tokens will now also reset on account security changes. If you change your password or if you enable login guard or two-factor authentication, the API access credentials are reseted. This means deleting all API clients, tokens, and authentications.

In the future, console authorization of OAuth 2 will be disabled and all who use API for scripting access are recommended to migrate to HMAC authentication.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

LocalBitcoins has released a faster and safer way to sell your Bitcoins: Quick sell. The new feature is especially helpful when paying bills with Bitcoin.

Quick sell is visible in your dashboard after logging in.

How quick sell works

Start by selecting payment method, currency and country (if required). Next, choose the amount you wish to sell. At this point, Quick sell shows the estimate how many Bitcoins would be needed for the transaction. Finally fill in the required details and click “Send trade request”.

Quick sell goes through all matching LocalBitcoins bitcoin buy advertisements from reputable traders. It chooses the advertisement with the best exchange rate and then makes a trade request .

The bitcoin buyer pays the transaction with the payment details you provided. If you have bills you can directly give the bill payment details in the quick sell form. (This works very well with national bank transfers, but may not be available in every country yet.)

Please note that some advertisements require SMS verification and other verifications - enable them to get access to advertisements with better prices.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Login guard is the latest account security feature on LocalBitcoins. If your LocalBitcoins account is being accessed from a web browser or a device not seen before an email confirmation is required when logging in.

Login guard is automatically enabled for all new users. The old users can enable the login guard in their profile settings. Login guard is effective protection against phishing attacks and we hope to see the reduction of successful phishing attacks targeting new users.

LocalBitcoins works actively towards making it safer to purchase and use bitcoins. During this year there has been visible increase in attack against bitcoin users in all majorbitcoinservices and local bitcoin wallets stored on your computer.

Below are some highlights of LocalBitcoins security progress.

Two-factor activation rate progress

The above chart shows the percentage of the LocalBitcoins users who activated two-factor authentication after the email verification. One can see there is clear progress going on and educating the new users is working. Some methods how we have achieved this are explained below.

A security brief for new users

After the email verification every new user is presented a choice for two-factor activation. We cannot force the users to activate the two-factor authentication, but we very clearly state one should do so.

Weak account security is highlighted

If the account security settings are weak this fact is highlighted to the user all the time they are logged in.

Two-factor email reminders

If anybody has bitcoins in their wallet and never activated two-factor authentication a reminder email is sent.

Monday, July 7, 2014

After the South Korean payment gateway giant, Galaxia Communications, announced to join Bitcoin payment method, thousands of websites from South Korea will embrace Bitcoins. Galaxia Communications is one of the top three online payment companies in South Korea. This company has more than 10,000 customers both inside and outside of South Korea. It also is the top seller for mobile gift card and coupon in South Korea. The cooperated Bitcoin payment processor is Coinplug, which provides technology support for Bitcoin transaction. The vice president and COO of Galaxia Communications, Yongkwang Kim, said the first time he heard about Bitcoin is just last year. Now he already has his own Bitcoin wallet. Kim also stated that persuading other staff of the company to accept Bitcoin is still challenging, since there is lots of negative news about digital currency, which makes bitcoin look unreliable. Kim also emphasised that there is no big problem in technical implementation:"We have operated many other payment methods. The operation of Bitcoin payment is relatively easier."Source: http://www.8btc.com/koreans-have-thousands-new-online-bitcoin-opportunities-thanks-galaxia